- Jaguar Land Rover makes bespoke desks for disadvantaged school children in India by upcycling wooden pallets from its manufacturing facility in Pune
- The ‘Crates to Classroom’ project has so far donated 700 desks to seven schools in villages close to the Pune plant, supporting the education of more than 1,000 children
- The handmade desks are designed and built by a local carpenter with help from employee volunteers from the Pune plant
Whitley, UK, August 13 2019: Jaguar Land Rover has donated its 700th upcycled desk to a village school in rural India. The ‘Crates to Classrooms’ initiative was the brainchild of employees at Jaguar Land Rover’s Pune manufacturing plant as a way to support the education of disadvantaged local children, whilst finding a second life for wooden pallets used to deliver parts to the plant.
Working with a local carpenter, engineers in Pune converted the pallets and crates into handmade school desks in three different sizes for children of all ages. In the last four years, the team has donated 700 desks to seven schools in and around Pune benefitting more than 1,000 local children.
The most recent delivery was to Punarutthan Samrasasta Gurukulam in Chinchwad Gaon village which educates young people from rural backgrounds, who are deprived of education. Girish Prabhune, Founder of Punarutthan Samrasasta Gurukulam, said: “With Jaguar Land Rover’s encouragement and support, the enthusiasm of the students has increased.
“Jaguar Land Rover’s donation of 125 desks to our project has helped in the creation of a more formal educational environment for study and encouraged them to read and write even further.”
We are firmly committed to sustainability and supporting local communities. This project is a great example of these two priorities in action.
Chris Thorp
Responsible Business Director
The upcycling project forms part of the company’s Global Responsible Business Strategy which seeks to ensure it has an ongoing positive social impact within the communities it operates.
Chris Thorp, Responsible Business Director at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “We are firmly committed to sustainability and supporting local communities. This project is a great example of these two priorities in action. Re‑using waste pallets in this way supports our approach to driving a ‘circular economy’ whilst providing high quality desks for young people in classrooms across Pune”.
Jaguar Land Rover’s Pune assembly plant opened in 2011 and today assembles six vehicles for the Indian market: Jaguar XE, XF, and F‑PACE, Range Rover Velar and Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport.
Further information
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Notes to Editors
Jaguar Land Rover is the UK’s largest automotive manufacturer, built around two iconic British car brands: Land Rover, the world’s leading manufacturer of premium all‑wheel‑drive vehicles; and Jaguar, one of the world’s premier luxury sports saloon and sports car marques.
At Jaguar Land Rover, we are driven by a desire to deliver class‑leading vehicles, which will provide experiences our customers will love, for life. Our products are in demand around the globe. In 2018 Jaguar Land Rover sold 592,708 vehicles in 128 countries.
We support around 260,000 people through our retailer network, suppliers and local businesses. At heart we are a British company, with two major design and engineering sites, three vehicle manufacturing facilities, an Engine Manufacturing Centre and soon to be opened Battery Assembly Centre. We also have seven global technology hubs. In the UK these are in Shannon, Manchester, Warwick (NAIC) and London. Globally these are in Portland, USA, Budapest, Hungary and Changshu, China. We have vehicle plants in China, Brazil, India, Austria and Slovakia.
From 2020 all new Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles will offer the option of electrification, giving our customers even more choice. We have introduced a portfolio of electrified products across our model range, embracing fully electric, plug‑in hybrid and mild hybrid vehicles as well as continuing to offer the latest diesel and petrol engines.